Tag: Home Staging

When it comes to staging a home for sale, the classic advice to keep color schemes neutral is still spot-on. White or pale hues make a space feel simple, serene and more expansive. These unobtrusive colors act as a blank canvas; they allow potential buyers to imagine themselves living in the home.

But many homeowners who already have colorful walls or furniture may wonder if it’s possible to keep some color in their staged home. The answer is absolutely yes. You can maintain – or even add – just a pop of color to create the right amount of personality and style in your staging. In fact, a splash of color can make a space feel designed, perhaps allowing it to linger in the memories of prospective buyers. As a bonus, color can also brighten your listing photos. Remember, you’ll want to add the color only after you’ve done the first two steps of home staging, paring down and freshening up. Here’s a game plan for strategically adding color to each staged room of your home.

Brighten the Living Room

Throw pillows are easily found and often cost-efficient. On a sofa, they’re a terrific way to add a burst of color. Select throw pillows that complement the sofa and room. You might go for a bright contrast, like royal blue against white, or bright yellow on a beige sofa. It’s all right to choose patterned, floral, solid or metallic versions. The key is to look for a color or combination of colors that will add visual interest without taking over the room.

Color-coordinating your display shelves is another smart and budget-friendly way to infuse your living room with a little color. When editing your bookcase or shelves, try keeping books of the same color or combinations of colors together. You might be surprised how a simple stack of brightly colored red or blue books can transform a shelf or an accent table.

If the thought of parting with that pair of brightly colored armchairs gives you trouble, rest assured that you might not have to let them go. Once you’ve given the room a neutral and soothing palette overall, try reinstating that colorful furniture piece or accessory. Perhaps balance it out with a paler counterpart, as with a light-colored throw on a chair, or white books on a colorful table.

The rule of thumb is that if it’s a visual distraction, you should remove it. But if your punchy piece complements the space and adds just the right amount of personality, it can stay. A buyer might remember the cool house with the interesting blue velvet ottoman, especially among a sea of all-white homes with nothing memorable about them.

Look to surfaces such as a countertop, an open shelf or a stovetop as opportunities to add a pop of color here and there in the kitchen. You don’t want to introduce clutter, but you could replace necessary items — teakettle, dish towel, cookie jar — that are neutral with colorful equivalents that tastefully brighten the space.

A terrific option for adding color to a kitchen is to highlight colorful seating options. Bright bar stools or dining chairs can really make a kitchen come to life.

Another great idea for adding temporary color that many stagers use for both photos and open houses is a simple bowl of fruit on the counter. Try using a single color, such as all green or all red apples. For a warm personal touch at your open house, you might leave a note offering the fruit to your visitors.

A well-staged bedroom should feel like a relaxing hotel room, with nothing too personal showing. Pale or white bedding and minimal accessories will contribute nicely to a soothing scheme.

Adhering to a hotel-like feel for your bedroom, however, doesn’t mean that you can’t add a color or two. Your bed wall is the perfect place to feature a different hue. Stick to peaceful or classic colors that will work nicely with your neutral bedding. White or ivory bedding looks sophisticated against a navy wall. Similarly, a soothing aqua or pale blue painted wall would freshen up a drab or dark space, making it more inviting and relaxing. Add a mirror to your painted bed wall to help create an elegant and calming retreat.

As with the living room, you can also opt for colored throw pillows or one colorful piece of accent furniture to add subtle drama to the bedroom. As long as it doesn’t detract from enhancing the room’s size and relaxing nature, a little color can brighten a bedroom nicely.

Bathrooms Are for Color

Fresh and clean is how you want your bathroom to read to any prospective buyer. Crisp white towels and a sparkling shower or tub do wonders to brighten an outdated or worn bathroom. Surprisingly, so does a little color on the walls.

So if your bathroom still feels a bit drab after cleaning and updating the space with new hardware and a fresh glaze on the tub, try painting one or more walls in a classic or fresh color. This can add a bit more style to the room, with the added perk of helping to conceal aging walls and distract the eye from other outdated features.

Look to classic colors like navy or charcoal gray to pop against your fluffy white towels or help make white tiles look brighter. Alternatively, a refreshing color such as pale aqua can evoke the palette of clean water, resulting in a soothing feeling.

Colors you might steer clear of for a painted bathroom wall are nonsoothing brights such as orange or emerald green. While these primary colors can make a fun statement, they don’t evoke a serene or clean feeling for the purposes of a bathroom.

Dress Up Your Exterior

Last but not least, it’s time to address accenting the exterior of your home with a burst of color. Painting your front door and shutters in a color that coordinates with the rest of your house will add curb appeal.

As an added element, look to the season to dictate your choice of flower and splashes of color. Red tulips are fantastic in the springtime, while orange and yellow give a sunny glow to a home in the fall.

The overall goal of home staging is to make your home shine. After paring down to just the essentials, the next staging step is to give your home a light makeover to make it look – and feel – neat, fresh and pleasant.

Buyers don’t expect everything to be new, but they don’t want to be turned off by worn items or unpleasant odors. A good rule of thumb to go by: If it looks old, worn or dirty, then clean or replace it. A clean, fresh-smelling, attractive home tends to sell. Read on for some budget-friendly ways to refresh each room in your home.

Start With the Living Room

As one of the most frequently used rooms, the living room can get a worn, lived-in look pretty fast. Fortunately, it’s also one of the simplest rooms to improve.

First, give your living room a fresh coat of paint – and while you’re at it, paint every room in the home. In the living room, go for a color that is somewhat neutral, like a gray or a bone, that works with your pared-down decor.

Second, consider buying new throw pillows to jazz up that worn sofa. Go for a refreshing, trendy color or something with texture, such as a metallic linen, to bring subtle style to the room.

Next, turn a critical eye to your rug. If it looks dirty or faded, think about replacing it with an inexpensive and neutral jute or sisal rug. The simplicity and texture of these natural fibers always make a room feel cleaner and more serene. Jute and sisal are go-tos for most home stagers because they don’t cost a fortune and do hold up well under heavy foot traffic from an open house.

Also, see if you can find a spot for a mirror, a classic trick for adding a light, bright element to any room. Although they may not scream personality, mirrors give a room an expansive, luminous quality that can appeal to a buyer.

Another rule that applies to almost every room is replacing any outdated light fixtures. Look to swap them with simple, neutral and stylish options that can handle high-wattage bulbs.

Finally, replace your knickknacks and accessories with a vase of fresh flowers. Use a medium or small vase so as not to distract from the rest of the room. Simple arrangements like a vase of white tulips or a cluster of peonies make a room fresh and lovely.

Move On to the Kitchen

Kitchens and bathrooms are crucial to the sale – specifically, the sale price – of a home. The more buyers feel they will need to spend on a kitchen renovation, the less they will want to offer for your house. That equation doesn’t mean that you should renovate your entire kitchen. You can make updates that cost far less than a total overhaul.

First, scrutinize your kitchen cabinets. Do they seem dirty or shabby? If so, instead of replacing them, consider the less expensive alternative of painting them. Whether you have them painted white, gray or navy, the new look can give your kitchen renewed life.

Next, whether or not you repaint your cabinets, inspect their hardware. You may want to replace these pieces with more modern or on-trend alternatives. Polished chrome, industrial iron and brushed brass are just some of the stylish options available today. As in the other rooms of the house, give walls a fresh coat of paint and replace any dirty, broken or dated light fixtures with clean, updated versions.

As in the kitchen, you may want to replace any dated or worn fixtures in your bathroom — whether faucets or drawer pulls. Polished chrome is a good choice because it always looks sparkling and new. Brushed brass brings a trendy, elegant look.

Next, go shopping for fluffy white towels to put on your shiny new towel bar. Even if your existing towels are nice and white, purchase new ones for staging. Your towels, though probably lovely, are nonetheless used, and will continue to be used as your house is shown. Buyers don’t want to see anything personal.

Also look to replace a chipped mirror or older medicine cabinet. A newer option will go a long way to giving your bathroom a fresh clean look.

Just as in the rest of the house, give any painted walls a fresh coat. If your bathroom cabinets are a bit shabby, consider painting those as well. A dark navy, for example, could look stellar next to the crisp whites of your towels and tub.

Speaking of the tub and shower, instead of replacing the tub, go for the much more cost-efficient option of having it professionally reglazed. This is essentially repainting the tub, making it look and feel new. Similarly, have the tile regrouted or pressure-washed. Your bathtub and shower will shine.

Finally, place something in your bathroom that smells fresh. Whether it’s a new bar of soap, a vase of fresh flowers or a reed diffuser, use something that will have a lingering pleasant scent.

The bedroom is one of the most personal spaces in the house. But for selling, we don’t want it to feel so personal. An overall guide to staging your bedroom is to think of it as a stylish and serene hotel room that anyone would feel comfortable in. When your potential buyers walk into your bedroom, you don’t want them to think of you, smell anything personal about you or see your personal items left behind.

A good first step in depersonalizing your room is to replace your bedding with crisp white linens. If all white isn’t possible, look for neutrals that give the same effect. You want your bed to look inviting, fresh and comfortable. Opt for a decorative throw pillow to give a hint of color.

If you have outdated furniture, just as in the kitchen and bathroom, try replacing the drawer pulls with something more modern and with simple lines. Similarly, if you have lampshades that are worn, yellowed or broken, replace them too.

When possible, hang a mirror above the bed or at some other focal point of the room, such as the wall facing the bed. This can help open up the room and reflect whatever natural light you have.

Follow the same steps in the bedroom as in the living room when it comes to the rug: If your bedroom rug looks worn or dated, replace it with sisal or jute. If your bedroom carpeting needs covering up, try placing a thin dhurrie or knit rug atop it. A rug pad can help these types of rugs stay put on top of carpet.

Finally, add a small vase of flowers to a bedside table. This little touch will contribute a pleasant detail to your hotel-like oasis.